Stanford alumni join Irish medtech company Diaceutics’ advisory team

New thought leaders will advise Diaceutics as it pursues its mission to transform patient diagnostic pathways.

Dundalk-based Diaceutics has strengthened its advisory team with the addition of Prof Elizabeth Teisberg and Dr Avi Kulkarni.

Founded in Belfast and with offices in Dundalk, Diaceutics is a diagnostics and data company that works with 31 out of the world’s top 35 pharmaceutical companies and has worked on more than 300 precision medicine projects. The core focus is to ensure patients get access to potentially life-saving therapies.

‘These new advisers will be instrumental in helping Diaceutics chart next steps as we continue to transform treatment pathways, driving better testing for better treatment’– PETER KEELING

Each year, Diaceutics’ technology helps 48,000 cancer patients in the US and EU get biomarker testing and therefore potentially gain access to the right drug for their specific condition.

Diaceutics was founded in 2005 by Peter and Ryan Keeling and, in April, raised €4.3m in financing from WhiteRock Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank.

Timing is everything

Prof Elizabeth Teisberg. Image: Diaceutics

Stanford University alumnus Prof Elizabeth Teisberg is a thought leader in value-based healthcare strategy – a concept she co-created that emphasises improving patient outcomes as a way to improve health and simultaneously reduce healthcare costs.

Currently executive director of the Value Institute for Health and Care at the Dell Medical School in the University of Texas at Austin, she is best known for co-authoring the award-winning Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results with Michael E Porter.

Silicon Valley-based Dr Avi Kulkarni, meanwhile, has more than 30 years of experience in the global life sciences industry. He has taken an active role in the transformation of healthcare via precision medicine and articulating its future importance to the life sciences industry.

Also a Stanford graduate, Kulkarni is a principal at KPMG, where he advises biopharma, diagnostics and medical device clients on organisational transformation, commercialisation and product life cycle strategies.

“It is a hugely exciting time for Diaceutics as we continue to grow our business,” Keeling said. “Precision testing is rapidly moving centre stage as a key driver in therapy choice and improved patient outcomes, and we have invested in being at the forefront of that transformation.

“A key element of our investment is the retention of Elizabeth Teisberg and Avi Kulkarni. They are world-renowned specialists in their fields and we are thrilled to welcome people of their proven capability and strategic experience to consult with the organisation. These new advisers will be instrumental in helping Diaceutics chart next steps as we continue to transform treatment pathways, driving better testing for better treatment.”